Notification issued 07/18/2015 at 4:24 PM. Due to an elevator service outage at the Manhattan Tram Station, the RIOC Red Bus will provide special shuttle service to and from Manhattan for those with limited mobility. Schedule information is below.

ROOSEVELT ISLAND TO MANHATTAN: Departs hourly from the bus stop near 455 Main Street ( near Riverwalk Bar and grill) from 5:00 PM until 11:00 PM. Additional stops are located at 546 Main St. (opposite Good Shepherd Plaza) and opposite 645 Main Street (opposite P.S/I.S. 217).

MANHATTAN TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND: Departs hourly from the southwest corner of 58th Street and 2nd Avenue from 5:30 PM until 11:30 PM. Additional stops are located at 645 Main St. (P.S./I.S. 217), 579 Main St. (M&D Deli), 543 Main St. (Good Shepherd Plaza), 425 Main St. (Riverwalk Bar & Grill), and the Roosevelt Island Tram Plaza.

If the outage continues through 7/19/2015 additional advisories with shuttle schedules will be posted. If you have any questions, please call the Public Safety Department at 212-832-4545. Thank you for your patience.

Following a previous outage, the Manhattan Tram Station passenger lift is back in service. The last Red Bus shuttle service to Manhattan will be at 7:00 PM 07/18/2015. The last Red Bus shuttle service to Roosevelt Island will be at 7:30 PM 07/18/2015. Thank you for your patience.

Join us for a dance class followed by live music at the Park. Rodney Lopez will teach the audience salsa, Cuban, and timba. Then, Ola Fresca will perform Latin, Cuban, and salsa music. (Rain date: Saturday, July 25th.)

We are hosting a free Bike Maintenance 101 class this Sunday from 1-3pm at Sportspark.

Our hands-on Bike Maintenance 101 class will give you the basic tools to fix flats, adjust brakes and derailleurs, clean and lube a chain, and perform minor adjustments that can have a significant impact on your ride quality.These skills will save you time, money, and give you a much better understanding—and appreciation—of your bike.

We encourage all people to register before the class although we will accept walk-ins.

A bicycle rider was injured in a collision with a car on the Motorgate Helix Ramp to the Roosevelt Island Bridge last Monday July 13.

A resident reported Monday:

I think someone got run over on the ramp to RI bridge.possibly a biker. I can just see lots of police/nyfd

A spokesperson for the NYPD 114 precinct said on Tuesday:

... in regards to the collision yesterday on Roosevelt Island. It occurred on Monday, July 13, 2015 around 6 PM ... According to the accident report, the vehicle was heading up the Roosevelt Island ramp in his lane and the bicyclist was heading down the ramp in the same lane as the automobile. The bicyclist was traveling in the wrong lane. They collided coming around the bend. The bicyclist did hurt what appears to be his leg from the collision and was removed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

There are conflicting versions of the July 13 bike accident on the Roosevelt Island Bridge Motorgate Helix Ramp. Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department (PSD) Chief Jack McManus told me that the Bike Rider and Car were going up the ramp in the same direction when the car hit the bike rider from behind resulting in the accident and a broken leg for the cyclist.

Asked to explain the discrepancy in accident reports, both NYPD and RIOC PSD said they were relaying the information told to them by the car driver and bike rider.

The issue of bicycle safety on the helix ramp was discussed during the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) July 14 Public Safety Committee (PSC) meeting.

The PSC unanimously voted to recommend closing the Motorgate Helix Ramp to bicycle riders. If the Motorgate Helix Ramp is closed to bicycle riders, they would have to take the Motorgate elevators or staircase instead to exit and enter Roosevelt Island.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman interviewed President Barack Obama on the Iranian nuclear agreement yesterday. According to the NY Times:

Only hours after the conclusion of an agreement with Iran to lift oil and financial sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, President Obama is a man who evinces no second thoughts whatsoever about the deal he struck. In a 45-minute interview in the Cabinet Room, the president kept stressing one argument: Don’t judge me on whether this deal transforms Iran, ends Iran’s aggressive behavior toward some of its Arab neighbors or leads to détente between Shiites and Sunnis. Judge me on one thing: Does this deal prevent Iran from breaking out with a nuclear weapon for the next 10 years and is that a better outcome for America, Israel and our Arab allies than any other alternative on the table?...

Urban American Management has advised that due to ongoing building facade work, Main St. will be reduced to one lane of traffic between 505 Main St. and 543 Main St. beginning Wednesday, 7/15/15, at 8 AM. In order to facilitate this work, there will be NO PARKING on the West side of Main St. between 505 Main St. and 543 Main St. Monday- Friday from 8 AM- 6 PM until further notice. Flag persons will be on site to redirect traffic during these times.

... my friend just wrote me "i was out in that east river park in the upper east last night and then we see all these emergency vehicles fly up to the northern tip of roosevelt across the way and there's a ton of people right by the water with flashlights and everything. then two helicopters came through shining spotlights on the water around that area....

... just after midnight there was a 32 year old emotionally disturbed male who attempted suicide by jumping off the ledge by the Light House. He was rescued and pulled from the water and removed to Elmhurst General Hospital for evaluation with no life threatening injuries.

UPDATE 8 PM - Here's what the scene at Lighthouse Park looked like from Queens.

Will have more later including key role Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department had in rescuing the man.

A Living Library is working with the Roosevelt Island Branch of the NY Public Library and we invite all RI Parents and Children (ages 4-14) to a wonderful summer of Garden Learning & Community in the RI Living Library & Think Park Gardens behind 504 Main Street.

Our FREE program, for parents and children goes until September 3rd, every Tuesday and Thursday, 2-4 pm - and we still have a place for you !

It is loads of fun and learning and there is room for all who would like to participate.

Gardens are convivial places to spend quality, happy time with your children and neighbors. Parents and children learn as they play, make new friends, socialize easily in a supportive environment. RI's rich, cultural diversity and history lends itself perfectly to our integrated program of gardening with bio & cultural diversity.

We learn with each other about our rich international heritage in the science and art of gardening and garden culture, multicultural cuisine, nutrition and health, and we enjoy our many garden festivals with with diverse arts: dance, music, songs, poetry, literature, painting and more.

We learn that our garden community of plants and insects, earth and sun, rain and sky, and diverse human cultures, brings us all together in A Living Library of diversity and earth ecology.

... is to unite the community around the idea that city children benefit greatly from time outdoors in nature using their environment to explore science, math and the origin of food through plant life....

iDig2Learn hosts a free Monarch Butterfly Corridor planting on Roosevelt Island this SAT July 18th from 11 AM to 3 PM Rain or shine. Meet at RI Community garden main gate at 11AM.

In partnership with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC), Roosevelt Island Garden Club (RIGC), Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS), Roosevelt Island Youth Program (RIYP) and the Girl Scouts, iDig2Learn will host a planting of the milkweed plant that monarch butterflies, which have suffered a severe loss of habitat, heavily depend upon. These destinations will serve as a flight corridor for monarch butterflies on their migrations south to warmer weather every fall.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

There's something about watching a squirrel eating that people find fascinating and amusing. Here's a Roosevelt Island squirrel minding his own business chomping on an apple in front of onlookers before running away seeking a bit of privacy.

As previously reported, some Roosevelt Island squirrels enjoy their pizza sitting on a bench and don't mind anyone watching.

Roosevelt Island Youth Program Partners with Cornell Tech to offer exciting Coding off the Grid Program

It is Roosevelt Island Youth Program Beacon's pleasure to introduce a new and exciting opportunity for rising 7th Graders to work in collaboration with Cornell Tech this summer! July 20th-31st, Cornell Tech and the Roosevelt Island Youth Program's Beacon and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development will offer students entering 8th grade in the fall an optional 2-week program called "Coding off the Grid" that combines computer science and natural sciences. The program has been developed by the American Museum of Natural History and will be led by Ms. Kelly Huang, science teacher at PS/IS 217. Students will spend time outdoors observing birds and the natural environment, and indoors in the computer lab learning to code their observations. No prior knowledge is required for this class.

The program will last three hours every day for 2 weeks, starting at 9:00am and ending at 12:00pm, so students will be able to participate in other Beacon summer activities during the rest of their days. Coding off the Grid includes two field trips to the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on July 21st and 31st. At the conclusion of the program, Cornell Tech will host a tech high school fair for all participants and their families. There will be no charge for participating.

If you know of a 7th or 8th Grade student in our area who may be interested in this program, please contact the Beacon Office to receive an application at (212) 527-2505 or email us at RIBeacon@gmail.com.

Cornell Tech Director Of K -12 Education Diane Levitt discussed summer program for PS/IS 217 students on the study of birds with the American Museum of Natural History, including learning how to code in Python language, during June 8 meeting of CB 8's Roosevelt Island and Education committees.

was a contestant on a NPR trivia game show with her daughter. Ms. Falk reports today that she recently wrote a trivia game for NPR's Ask Me Another program. According to Ms. Falk:

G-L-O-R-I-A

My Game on NPR

You may have heard I was a contestant on Ask Me Another, the NPR trivia game show, in April 2014.

Perhaps you know one of my talents is re-writing the lyrics of popular songs, usually to celebrate the milestone birthday or anniversary of a family member.

You can hear the game I wrote based on the song Gloria, by Van Morrison. The guitarist of Ask Me Another, Jonathan Coulton, plays the melody and sings my revised lyrics. The contestants guess the name of the woman described -- and then sing and spell her name, like Van Morrison.

Please be advised that the Public Safety Department (550 Main Street) and the RIOC Offices (591 Main Street) are currently experiencing a telephone outage. To contact Public Safety during this outage, please call 212-832-4547 or 212-832-4548.

An advisory will be issued once service is restored. We appreciate your patience while we resolve this issue.

Roosevelt Island's Island House Management sent this July 9 memo to residents reporting:

...Verizon has confirmed there is a main phone cable failure in the area which has caused widespreaad outage throughout the Roosevelt Island area. Currently, all of our building phone lines are down...

... Verizon indicates the repair date could be as late as 7/21/15 and even that is not guaranteed...

Please be advised that phone service to our Roosevelt Island branch is temporarily suspended due to a cable service outage on the island. The branch is open for business; however, customers attempting to reach the branch by phone should instead contact our Customer Service Call Center at (800) 662-0860.

One of the subcontractors working for Cornell Tech accidentally cut a cable which has affected Verizon service on Roosevelt Island. We have been in contact with Verizon who is working to restore service. We apologize and are doing everything we can to get Verizon to restore service as soon as possible.‎

In January 2014, Cornell Tech contractors cut an undocumented water main pipe during demolition of Goldwater Hospital. During January 29, 2014 meeting of the Cornell Tech Roosevelt Island Construction and Community Task Force:

... I asked Cornell NYC Tech Director of Capital Planning Andrew Winters and his contractors what is being done to insure similar occurrences do not happen again.

Mr. Winters asked Ted Musho, Vice President of Tishman Construction, who is overseeing the site work to explain what happened and measures being taken to prevent it from occurring again. According to Mr. Musho:

... metal detectors and ground penetrating radar...

will be used to prevent future similar occurrences but:

...the reality of it is that you got 70 years worth of utility work that is laid on top of the site that is not well documented. Its going to take alot of effort on our part when we go through there to do this...

Mr. Winters added:

... we've done about 12 or so borings around the site without incident ... its an unfortunate occurrence. We're going to try and avoid it and do whatever we can in the future by being more aggressive...

Mr. Winters also explained that part of the construction project is to:

...upgrade every utility that's down there. Electric, water, sewer, storm, everything. Part of the upgrading is moving it into the right of way so that it is fully mapped and full accessible for the future.

Roadwork and Central Utility Plant - Roadway work is occurring along the north transverse road with water line, sewer pipe and manhole installation taking place. Also at the north transverse road, Boiler-matic work will be occurring in preparation for the turnover on Saturday, 25 July. Work is also taking place on the east road with sewer, storm, and electrical utilities installation ongoing.

Co-Location Building – Excavation and foundation work is ongoing. This includes drilling rock anchors.

Residential Building – Site Preparation is still ongoing in the form of surveying and perimeter erosion control. Excavation for foundations is underway. Slabs and interior footings are also occurring.

Bloomberg Center – Basement Slab forming is ongoing with installation of utility chases and utilities happening concurrently. Basement foundation walls in the south section of the building is ongoing.

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WELCOME TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND

Welcome to the Roosevelt Islander Online!

Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.

The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.